Slave
Day
by Rob ThomasKeene Davenport's call for a student walkout to protest
his school's annual "Slave Day" fund-raiser is having less than
the desired effect. Shawn Greely, Robert E. Lee High School's first African
American student council president, still amiably presides over the auction
of student body reps to serve as book toters, chauffeurs, and lunch fetchers
for the day. Hoping to save face, Keene chooses an alternate path of civil
disobedience. Assuming that a day of degradation ought to open Shawn's eyes,
Keene will "buy" Shawn to be his slave, no matter what cost.
So begins one eventful day in the lives of Robert E. Lee High's "slaves"
and "masters"  seven students and one teacher  who
tell of their experiences in alternating first-person narratives. Beauty
queens and geeks, class clowns and football players, spanning different
ethnic, social, and class backgrounds  all the participants are ripe
to come away from Slave Day changed.

The
Faded Sun Trilogy
by C.J. CherryhFor four decades now the mri have faced an enemy unlike
any other. In defending the merchant ships and protecting the intergalactic
commerce of the elephantine regul, the kel  the mri's warrior caste
 have met the deadliest enemy any mri has ever faced  an enemy
who does not honor single combat, an enemy whose way of war is widespread
destruction. These "humans" are mass fighters, creatures of the
herd, and the mri have been slaughtered like animals.
Now in the aftermath of war, the mri face extinction. It will be up to three
individuals to save whatever remains of this devastated race: a kel 
one of the last survivors of his kind; a sen  the priestess and spiritual
leader of this honorable people; and a lone human  a man sworn to
aid this enemy of his own kind. Can they retrace the galaxy-wide path of
this nomadic race back through millennia to reclaim the ancient world which
first gave them life?

Also by Cherryh:The Pride of Chanur
Downbelow Station
Angel With the Sword

Heavy
Weather
by Bruce SterlingThey call themselves the Storm Troupe and they hack heavy
weather. They chase the monster storms that twist erratically across the
Southwestern badlands laid to waste by the greenhouse effect. They survive
on scrap, grunge, free software, danger, and the charisma of their leader,
the brilliant mathematician Dr. Jerry Mulcahey. Equipped with military-surplus
"smart" vehicles, networked laptop computers, and virtual-reality
gear, the Storm Troupe is chasing the ultimate storm: the F-6 tornado. Few
outside the Troupe even believe that an F-6 is possible. Yet something unmistakably
monstrous is brewing in the wrecked atmosphere over America's Tornado Alley.
But no one in the Troupe, not even its brilliant, driven leader, guesses
the real nature of the F-6 or the shadowy forces unleashed in its twisting
fury. Not until it is too late...

Also by Sterling:Holy Fire
The Difference Engine
Globalhead

Arms
of Nemesis
by Steven SaylorThe hideously disfigured body was found in the atrium.
The only clues were a blood-soaked cloak, and, carved into the stone at
the corpse's feet, the word 'Sparta'... The overseer of Marcus Crassus's
estate has been murdered, apparently by two slaves bent on joining Spartacus's
revolt. The wealthy, powerful Crassus vows to honor an ancient law and have
his ninety-nine remaining slaves slaughtered in three days. Gordianus the
Finder is summoned from Rome by a mysterious client to find the truth about
the murder before the three days are up.
From the brutal stench of a slave galley to the limpid, sea-glazed beauty
of Baiae and the sulphurous pits of the Sybil at Cumae, he must risk all
he loves, including his life, to stop a senseless slaughter.

The
Hunger
by Whitley StrieberEternal youth is a wonderful thing for the few who have
it, but for Miriam Blaylock, it is a curse  an existence marred by
death and sorrow. Because for the everlasting Miriam, everyone she loves
withers and dies. Now, haunted by signs of her adoring husband's imminent
demise, Miriam sets out in search of a new partner, one who can quench her
thirst for love and withstand the test of time. She finds it in the beautiful
Sarah Roberts, a brilliant young scientist who may hold the secret to immortality.
But one thing stands between the intoxicating Miriam Blaylock and the object
of her desire: Dr. Tom Haver... and he's about to realize that love and
death go hand in hand.

Killdozer!
by Theodore SturgeonTheodore Sturgeon's storied have long been out of print
and never placed in chronological order  until now. This third volume
features the "golden age of science fiction," stories written
between 1941 and 1946.
The title story inspired an ABC television movie and the name of a rock
band. Recognized universally as one of Sturgeon's great masterpieces, "Killdozer!"
is one of the best descriptions in literature of humanity's understandable
fear of the machine.
This third volume also brings back into print another Sturgeon classic from
the mid-'40s, "Mewhu Jet," which preshadowed the theme of the
visit of the child from space which Steven Spielberg made popular in his
1982 film E.T.

Also by Sturgeon:Microcosmic God
The Ultimate Egoist

The
Sword and the Circle
by Rosemary SutcliffYoung Arthur Pendragon became High King of England the
instant he pulled the mysterious sword from the stone. He unlocked the magic
within the sword Excalibur, and won the heart of the Lady Guenever. At his
side through quests and adventures were the Knights of the Round Table 
among them Gawain, who faced certain death at the hands of the Green Knight;
Percival, who learned that it took more than victory on horseback to win
a place at the Round Table; and Lancelot, who daily felt the passion he
was forced to hide. And over them all ruled Arthur, true King....
"Stands far and beyond any Arthurian collection for young readers." Times Literary Supplement
"Other than Malory, I can think of no better introduction to the whole
sweep of Arthurian stories." School Library Journal

Also by Sutcliff:The Light Beyond the Forest
The Road to Camlann

Photographing
Fairies
by Steve SzilagyiIt all began in the 1920's, when a blustering country
policeman,Constable Michael Walsmear, literally punches his way into American
photographer Charles Castle's London studio. Walsmear has what he claims
are photographs of fairies. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, whom Castle approaches
to verify the pictures, offers a large sum of money to have Walsmear's photographs
destroyed. But even more than cash, Castle wants the truth. His quest takes
him to Burkinwall, a seemingly peaceful country village. There, with camera
in hand, he encounters an odd assortment of quirky characters, including
two ethereally beautiful young girls in a beautiful garden full of unexpected
secrets....
"As odd and endearing as its title... Full of characters with strange
secrets." The Wall Street Journal
"Beautifully written and packed with ironic twists... You certainly
might find yourself staying up all night to finish it." The Seattle TImes

Walking
the Labyrinth
by Lisa GoldsteinThe Order of the Labyrinth, a secret society founded
in Victorian England, survives to this day in San Francisco, and its members
still lurk in occult bookstores and search for magical secrets of the mysterious
founders. But Molly Travers, in researching her own genealogy, discovers
that the secrets of the Order are no joke  are in fact potentially
deadly. She is the heir of the founders, and she has to find her living
(and perhaps magical) relatives before the Order finds her. She has to walk
the Labyrinth.
"Goldstein has done a remarkable job here... in far less wordage than
most writers seem to require for such work, but without skimping on a richness
of mystery and detail. ... She simply tells a fine story  by turns
charming, thoughtful, and suspenseful...." Fantasy & Science Fiction

Grass
by Sheri S. TepperGenerations ago, humans fled to the cosmic anomaly known
as Grass. Over time they evolved a new and intricate society. But before
humanity arrived another species had already claimed Grass for its own.
It, too, had developed a culture...
Now a deadly plague is spreading across the stars. No world same Grass has
been left untouched. Marjorie Westriding Yrarier has been sent from Earth
to discover the secret of the planet's immunity. Amid the alien social structure
and strange life-forms of Grass, Lady Westriding unravels the planet's mysteries
to find a truth so shattering it could mean the end of life itself.

The
Starry Rift
by James Tiptree Jr.These are the heroes of the Starry Rift, a dark river
of night that flows between the arms of our galaxy: A headstrong teenaged
runaway who makes first contact with a strange alien race. A young officer
on the deep-space salvage mission who discovers an exact double of the woman
he thought he'd lost. The crew of an exploration ship who must plead for
the human race to avert interstellar war.
"Highly recommended. Takes a comparatively conventional SF subject
and reworks it with enormous skill  sound world-building, well-drawn
characters, and superb command of the language." Booklist

Hard
Candy
by Andrew VachssIn this mercilessly compelling thriller, Burke 
the private eye, sting artist, and occasional hit man who metes out a cruelly
ingenious vengeance on those who victimize children  is up against
a soft-spoken messiah, who may be rescuing runaways or recruiting them for
his own hideous purposes. But in doing so Burke becomes a target for an
entire Mafia family, a whore with a heart of cyanide, and a contract killer
as implacable as a heat-seeking missile. Written with Vachss's signature
narrative overdrive  and with his unnerving familiarity with the subbasement
of American crime  Hard Candy is vintage Burke.

Midnight
Robber
by Nalo HopkinsIt's Carnival time and the Caribbean-colonized planet
of Toussaint is celebrating with music, dance, and pageantry. Masked "Midnight
Robbers" waylay revelers with brandished weapons and spellbinding words.
But to young Tan-Tan, the Robber Queen is simply a favorite costume to wear
at the festival  until her power-corrupted father commits an unforgivable
crime.
Suddenly, both father and daughter are thrust into the brutal world of New
Half-Way Tree. Here monstrous creatures from folklore are real, and the
humans are violent outcasts in the wilds. Here Tan-Tan must reach into the
heart of the myth  and become the Robber Queen herself. For only the
Robber Queen's legendary power's can save her life... and set her free.

The
Otherland Series
by Tad WilliamsOtherland...
Surrounded by secrecy, it is home to the wildest dreams and the darkest
nightmares. Incredible amounts of money have been lavished on it. The best
minds of two generations have labored to build it. And somehow, bit by bit,
it is claiming the Earth's most valuable resource  its children.
"The ultimate virtual-reality saga, borrowing motifs from cyberpunk,
mythology, and world history." San Francisco Chronicle
"A wonderful mixture of visual imagery and movement... once again Tad
Williams paints us a picture so vivd and real that it becomes three dimensional.
Highly recommended. ..." Absolute Magnitude

Lincoln's
Dream
by Connie WillisFor Jeff, a young historical researcher for a Civil War
novelist, reality is redefined on a bitter cold night near the close of
a lingering winter. He meets Annie, an intense and lovely young woman suffering
from vivid, intense nightmares. Haunted by the dreamer and her unrelenting
dreams, Jeff leads Annie on an emotional odyssey through the heartland of
the Civil War in search of a cure. On long-silenced battlefields their relationship
blossoms  two obsessed lovers linked by unbreakable chains of history,
torn by a duty that could destroy them both. Suspenseful, moving, and highly
compelling, Lincoln's Dream
is a novel of rare imaginative power that strikes a chord deep within the
hearts of us all.

Stranger
in a Strange Land
by Robert A. HeinleinName: Valentine Michael Smith
Ancestry: Human
Origin: Mars
Here is Heinlein's masterpiece  the brilliant spectacular and incredibly
popular novel that grew from a cult favorite to a bestseller to a classic
in a few short years. It is the story of Valentine Michael Smith, the man
from Mars who taught humankind grokking and watersharing. And love.

Shadowland
by Peter StraubYou have been there... if you have ever been afraid.
Come back. To a dark house deep in the Vermont woods, where two friends
are spending a season of horror, apprenticed to a Master Magician. Learning
secrets best left unlearned. Entering a world of incalculable evil more
ancient than death itself. More terrifying. And more real.
Only one of them will make it through.
"I thought it was creepy from page one! I loved it!" Stephen King

The
Ghastly Ones
and other Fiendish Frolics
by Richard SalaWelcome, friends, to a gleefully ghoulish look at maniacs,
monsters and mayhem. As you creep through these pages you'll meet axe-swinging
psychos, bloodthirsty beasts, and sinister stalkers of every size and shape
 all captured in frightfully witty verse and devilish drawings that
will make you shiver with delight!

Also by Sala:Hypnotic Tales
Thirteen O'Clock
Black Cat Crossing

Count
Zero
by William GibsonTurner, high-corrporate commando, is abruptly reactivated
by the Hosaka Corporation for a mission even more dangerous than the one
he's still recovering from. Mass-Neotek's chief of R&D is defecting,
and Turner must get him out, intact, along with the biochip he's perfected.
With voodoo on the Net, he thinks he's only trying to get out alive. But
he hasn't met the angel...
"An intriguing cast of characters and a tough, glitzy image of computer
consciousness and the future of mankind." Richmond Times
"Count Zero shares with Neuromancer that novel's stunning use
of language, breakneck pacing, technological innovation, and gritty brand-name
realism." Fantasy Review

Panda
Ray
by Michael KandelChristopher Zimmerman sure looks like a normal; ten-year-old
(even if he is the shortest member of his class). He collects pebbles and
has a dog named Buzz. He also tells his whole fifth-grade class at Lincoln
Elementary about traveling into the past to see dinosaurs and trilobites.
For Christopher  in spite of his ordinary looks  is actually
the youngest child in a family of aliens... or are they mutants? (And really,
does it matter which?)
When Mother hears Christopher's boasting she rules as she must: Christopher
will be scooped out.
Christopher would rather die than be scooped out, so he enlists Gramps's
help and flees on a journey through space, time, and other less recognizable
things, and into a classic science fiction adventure.

Glimmering
by Elizabeth HandIt is 1999. The Last Days, or some say, the First. The
climate has warmed dramatically, the cities have imploded into riotous shards,
and the sky is a glimmering array of reds and greens and golds.
In fin de siecle New York, a millionaire publisher, a jaded rock star, and
the girl who, in her own way, loves them both are watching the waters rise
as the cults begin the frenzies of the Night of the Thousand Years.
This breathtaking novel is Elizabeth Hand's audacious attempt to capture
in one explosive story both the unspoken dreams and the unspeakable nightmares
of her generation.
She succeeds.
"A wild, psychedelic thoughtful thriller... Another dynamic read!" Des Moines Register

The
Dream Master
by Roger ZelaznyZelazny the myth-master, fantasy and SF writer extraordinary,
excels himself in this brilliant novel. It is the story of Charles Render,
the Shaper, one of the world's handful of neuroparticipant therapists. Render
can enter and direct another person's mind. His skills can alter a personality.
But the mind is an uncharted and infinite universe, and the Shaper is drawn,
unawares, into a fateful vortex which all the arts of the Dream Master cannot
avoid.
This is a deeply exciting and inventive novel, rich in intriguing undertones
and correspondences with Arthurian and older mythology  in fact, vintage
Zelazny.

Elidor
by Alan GarnerTold to stay out of the way while their house is packed
up for the next day's move, the four Watson children wander into the slims
of Manchester. There they tumble into the ruined land of Elidor and learn
that they are somehow bound up with its fate. Back in their new house the
children are constantly besieged by evil forces surging to escape into their
dimension. Finally, after months of tension, the children return and face
Findhorn, a fierce and giant unicorn, who must sing before the land can
be redeemed and the children safe again.
"One of the better fantasies, British or American...." Library Journal

T'nt:
Telzey and Trigger
by James H. SchmitzTelzy Amberdon is one of the most powerful xenotelepaths
in the known galaxy. Trigger Argee is a crack shot, with reflexes that make
lightning look lethargic, and also a top agent of the galaxy's Federation
of the Hub. Separately they have been making life miserable for human criminals,
unfriendly aliens, and nefarious members of all species. But when a danger
to the entire Hub civilization brought these two together, the galaxy would
never be the same!
"A typical James Schmitz mix of humor, strange mental powers, and mild
anarchy. Delightful!" The Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction

Also by Schmitz:Telezey Amberdon
Trigger and Friends
The Hub: Dangerous Territory

Pluribus
by Michael KurlandSomewhere on the crumbling road between the Palisades
Enclave in California and the remains of the Chicago Spaceport, a brightly-painted
wagon rumbles along on the last rubber tires in the world. Mordecai Lehrer
is moving east. His wagon is a traveling medicine show, a peddler's pack,
home for part-time magicians  and courier service for Earth's last
enclaves of scientific knowledge. Ninety per cent of Earth's population
perished in the Death, and the remaining ten blame the evils of godless
science for that terrible plague. They would destroy the science enclaves
if they could  and they grow bolder day by day.
But the enclaves know what the people cannot: scientists in the Mars colony
have discovered that the plague will inevitably be followed by a mutant
form virulent enough to wipe out all the survivors of the first siege. Mars
has also found a vaccine, and even now a suicidal mission of mercy is racing
toward the ruins of the Chicago Spaceport.
Meanwhile Mordecai Lehrer bumps across the plains of the west, carrying
precious instructions from the California enclave on how to grow and use
the vaccine. He travels in secret, and in fear, for all around him are the
people whose lives will be saved if he succeeds  and who would kill
him gladly to ensure his failure.

American
Gods
by Neil GaimanShadow spent three years in prison, keeping his head
down, doing his time. All he wanted was to get back to the loving arms of
his wife and stay out of trouble for the rest of his life. But days before
his scheduled release, he learns that his wife has been killed in an accident,
and his world becomes a colder place.
On the plane ride home to the funeral, Shadow meets a grizzled man who calls
himself Mr. Wednesday. A self-styled grifter and rogue, Wednesday offers
Shadow a job. And Shadow, a man with nothing to lose, accepts.
But working for the enigmatic Wednesday is not without a price, and Shadow
soon learns that his role in Wednesday's schemes will be far more dangerous
than he ever could have imagined. Entangled in a world of secrets, he embarks
on a wild road trip and encounters, among others, the murderous Czernobog,
the impish Mr. Nancy, and the beautiful Easter  all of whom seem to
know more about Shadow than he himself does.
Shadow will learn that the past does not die, that everyone, including his
late wife, had secrets, and that the stakes are higher than anyone could
have guessed.
All around them a storm of epic proportions threatens to break. For beneath
the placid surface of everyday life a war is being fought  and the
prize is the very soul of America.

The
Intuitionist
by Colson WhiteheadTwo warring factions in the Department of Elevator Inspectors
in a bustling metropolis vie for dominance: The Empiricists, who go by the
book and rigorously check every structural and mechanical detail, and the
Intuitionists, whose observational methods involve meditation and instinct.
Lila Mae Watson, the city's first black female inspector and devout Intuitionist
with the highest accuracy rate in the department, is at the center of the
turmoil. An elevator in a new municipal building has crashed on Lila Mae's
watch, fanning the flames of the Empiricist-Intuitionist feud and compelling
Lila Mae to go underground to investigate. As she endeavors to clear her
name, she becomes entangled in a web of intrigue that leads her to a secret
that will change her life forever.
A dead-serious and seriously funny feat of the imagination, The Intuitionist
conjures a parallel universe in which latent ironies in matters of morality,
politics, and race come to light and marks the debut of an important American
writer.
"Unusual. ... Whitehead's prose is graceful and often lyrical, and
his elevator underworld is a complex, lovingly realized creation." The New Yorker
"Literary reputations may not rise and fall as predictably as elevators,
but if there's any justice in the world of fiction, Colson Whitehead's should
be heading to the upper floors." The New York Times Book Review